Monstrous
by TB's LMC
Summary: Jeff Tracy becomes something other than himself...something monstrous. Written in response to the Tracy Island Writers Forum's 2007 Halloween Horror Challenge. Housed at the Tracy Island Chronicles. Rated for horror-related violence.


_Summary: Jeff Tracy becomes something other than himself...something monstrous. Written in response to the Tracy Island Writers Forum's 2007 Halloween Horror Challenge._

_Warning: This story is rated for violence and coarse language. Reader discretion is advised._

_Acknowledgments: Thank you SOOOO much to Sandy (SkyWench) for her most excellent beta and to both her and Sam for their cheering me on!_

_Author's Note: Inspired by the one and only Peter Dyneley's old black-and-white B horror movie "Manster". Long live Peter in our hearts, and the man he brought to life: Jeff Tracy._

* * *

><p><strong>MONSTROUS<strong>

* * *

><p>Blood-red eyes watched. Nervous twitches told of long hours spent waiting. For what, it did not know. It knew only that it waited, searching for that which it needed. Its belly growled but it was not hunger that drove the beast. It was desire. And it was no longer man enough to know the difference between the two.<p>

"Hey, Doc, I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me on this."

The Asiatic scientist grinned and peered through the seemingly ancient spectacles covering his dark, narrow eyes. He stuck out his hand and shook heartily the one being offered.

"Not a problem at all, Mr. Tracy. Perhaps it is I who should be thanking _you_, after all!"

Jeff chuckled. "When the Head of your R&D tells you the famous Dr. Cho wants to meet with you personally about a new $4 billion project you've undertaken, you make room in your schedule."

Cho nodded, the wide grin never leaving his face. "Indeed yes, a man of business, then let us get to it. Please come into my lab."

Jeff looked around the well-appointed house-turned-research laboratory that Ken Cho insisted upon using rather than the five million dollar facility built for him by his own government not eight miles down the road in nearby Star.

He hadn't been to Alberta in a while but the Parsons Project was one of the biggest Tracy Engineering had ever undertaken, and the first to incorporate recent biotechnological breakthroughs into what was going to wind up being the largest, most expensive and most sophisticated space station known to humankind.

"So is there a big problem with the nerve packs you're supplying to Parsons?" Jeff asked, not one to mince words when this much money was at stake.

"Not per se," Cho replied, gesturing toward one long marble topped lab table in the center of what had once perhaps been a bedroom in the three-story home. "Would you care for a coffee?"

"That'd be nice, yes. It's been a while since I've had any sleep."

"Very well." With that, Cho pressed a button on a nearby panel. Minutes later, a tray emerged from the wall, reminding Jeff very much of his old friend Wil Dandridge's office setup. He had to stifle a chuckle as Cho offered him the steaming hot mug. Right now he wasn't so sure a whiskey wouldn't do him a sight better.

"As you know, I am a medical doctor first and foremost," Cho began as he fiddled on a nearby palmtop computer. "My primary concern is always the health and welfare of the farmed cells," he continued as Jeff nodded and took two large gulps of the steaming coffee. "I've become greatly concerned over the health and welfare of the Lac La Biche site, Mr. Tracy."

"You look _extremely_ concerned. Is it an ethical issue?"

"I am afraid so," Cho nodded grimly. He handed the palmtop, a full 200 gig laptop that fit in the palm of the hand, to Jeff and tapped a thin forefinger on its 3"x3" screen. "Take a look at these."

Jeff held the palmtop up and allowed his jaw to drop as he viewed the slideshow of pictures parading across the little screen. "These are from the site?"

"They are. A man who does work for me took them not three nights ago. I agonized for two of those nights before attempting to contact you directly."

"My apologies," Jeff breathed, unable to tear his eyes from the photos. "I was away." He looked from picture to picture. "My _God_, what _is_ this?"

Cho sat back on a stool and watched Jeff intently.

"So what...?" Jeff felt something strange wash over him and reached out a hand to steady himself on the lab counter. "How did this get by our original...?" Again, his voice stopped abruptly as he swayed.

"You must have traveled quite a ways, Mr. Tracy. Perhaps you merely need a small rest."

"I don't have...I don't..." Jeff blinked, dropping the palmtop to the counter. "Perhaps..."

"Come," Cho took his arm and led him to a sofa in the corner that Jeff hadn't noticed before. A sofa that seemed oddly out of place in the high-tech clean room. "It will only be a short rest you need."

Jeff nodded but could not respond as he practically fell onto the sofa. Before his head hit it, he was unconscious.

"There now, you will sleep," Cho said, the broad smile having returned. He quickly retreated to another room and returned minutes later with a syringe in one hand and a tiny glass vial in the other.

Kneeling at Jeff's side, Ken Cho rolled the billionaire's sleeve up and pulled his arm straight, inside of the elbow facing up. He grabbed an alcohol wipe, ripped open the packet and quickly wiped an area, then tossed the wipe aside. He pulled the old-fashioned syringe cover off with his teeth and spat it to the floor.

"A hypo spray won't do this time, Jeff Tracy," he said brightly as he used the syringe to draw the pale yellow liquid out of the small vial in his other hand. "You see, I need a much more direct route into your blood."

It took mere seconds for Cho to administer the liquid directly into Jeff's blood stream. He held a cotton ball over the area for a few moments, waiting to make sure the tiny pinprick clotted properly.

Cho had visions of what this would do to Jefferson Grant Tracy. But the best vision of all was the one where he took the project over after Jeff's strange disappearance was complete. Took it over and himself, at last, became rich.

"Sorry, Tracy," he said sweetly, truly seeming to mean it. "But this _is_ the only way."

* * *

><p>It tried to stifle the growl, knowing silence was its best bet now. The prey moved closer. It needed to feed. Why, how, where was not important. Only filling the need, the hunger, and the want. Two already. Now this, to be the third. Somewhere in the back of a mind it no longer heeded it registered that this was a female, but other than the brief neuron acknowledging that along a nearly forgotten neural pathway, there was not even a flicker of care.<p>

Saliva dripped from the mouth with fangs protruding at odd and incongruous angles. The head pulled at the shoulder as though wishing it could be apart from that it had grown from. The rustling of leaves told both that prey was coming nearer. Muscles tensed. Two clawed hands found fingers curling in anticipation.

A short scream tearing apart the quiet of the rest area was the only indication the beast had succeeded.

* * *

><p>Jeff awoke, groggily fighting to remember where he was. He had to be at home on the island, that was where he last recalled being. But as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he felt, more than saw, that he was most definitely not in bed.<p>

"What the-?"

He straightened his body and looked around, only to find that he was in the front seat of the black BMW he'd rented at the airport. Outside, large white fluffy snowflakes fell silently, melting against the windshield of the running car.

"What in God's name is going on here?" he asked of no one. Quickly he reached into his pocket for the satellite phone he never left home without, but it wasn't there. He searched the glove compartment, the coat he hadn't yet put on and his other pockets, but to no avail.

His wristwatch was also nowhere to be found.

Jeff got out of the car, yanking his coat with him. He put it on and zipped it up as he looked around. A nagging right shoulder ache made him rub the affected area as he made his way toward a small rest area Bunkie. Surely there would be pay phones there.

He stepped inside. No phones. Nothing but bathrooms for men and women. And a bulletin board containing all manner of advertisements for various trucks and other machinery for sale in the area, complete with little white tabs with phone numbers you could rip off if interested.

"A lot of good that does here with no damn phones," Jeff muttered.

He made his way back to the car, put it in reverse and headed back out to the road. A two-laner which didn't seem to have any signs indicating what the hell road it even was, Jeff made a face and followed the instinct that told him to turn right onto it. With the sun hidden behind thick snow clouds the likes of which he hadn't seen since his Kansas days, Jeff had no way of knowing which direction was which.

Of course, when you don't know where you even are, direction is somewhat irrelevant.

Jeff drove and drove, marveling at the lack of any signs of life save semi trucks, before finally coming to an intersection. It told him he was at the crossroads of Secondary Road 831 and Alberta Highway 28.

"Alberta?" Jeff asked out loud, frowning. "Canada?" He looked left and right. "What in the _hell_ am I doing in _Canada_?"

He had no memory of leaving Tracy Island, let alone travelling to Canada, renting the Beemer or getting out here to wherever here was. Jeff contemplated flagging down one of the many passing semis, but the signs told him a place called Waskatenau was to the right. Hoping this was a town of some sort, he waited for a logging truck to pass before pulling out onto the road.

"This is nuts," Jeff said, looking once again at his bare wrist. Deep down, in spite of the placid look on his face, Jeff Tracy was worried.

Once again, he rubbed his aching shoulder.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you gave him the serum?" A beautiful Japanese woman frowned, marring her exquisite features. "Dr. Cho, how could you do that to him?"<p>

"My dear, you must not blame _me_ for all the information you have provided to me on the Tracy family. Tell me, Lana, how is dear Scott?"

She made a face and turned away. "You did not need to do this to him, to his father. To his family." Suddenly she whirled back around to face him, anger evident upon her face. "I will no longer be part of this!" her accented voice dripped with hatred. "For years I have assisted in every way you have asked but this time you have gone too far!"

"Lana, my sweet, you know my reasons for this. It is the final experiment, and what better genes to test it on than the most civilized, intelligent and richest man in the world?"

Narrowing her eyes, Lana all but hissed in return. "Your reasons are more to do with the latter part than the former." She grabbed her handbag and coat. "I will _not_ have any _part_ in this!"

As she moved to open the door, Cho blocked it. "What are you going to do, Lana? Are you going to save him?" His grin seemed to turn darker, though it never left his face. "You will be too late. The transformation has already begun."

Tears sprang to her eyes as she grabbed the door handle, threw the door open and ran out. She had to stop this. She _had_ to!

Scott would never forgive her.

* * *

><p>It thought it should recognize its latest meal. There was a familiarity to what was left of the gruesomely ripped apart features but again as soon as the recognition tried to come, it was gone and the beast knew only that it was tired. There was shelter not far from this place; it somehow knew it had seen it. As it raced along on two legs yet seeming uncomfortable with that gait, it passed something large and metal...a car. Yes, it knew it was a car.<p>

The creature stopped as something caught its eye. Stuck to the dashboard, a photograph. It used a clawed hand to rip the picture off and brought it closer. Its striking blue-grey eyes widened and seemed to almost fill with tears. It stared at the photo, then turned and looked back at where its meal lay, nothing more than torn clothes and dismembered body parts remaining.

The monster threw its head back and howled mournfully into the night, balling its hairy, elongated fingers into fists, before taking off for the old abandoned barn not 400 meters distant. A soft rustling was heard as large, fluffy snowflakes began falling from the sky. On the ground where it had just stood was the photograph.

Smiling, with large eyes and high cheekbones, darkest walnut brown hair neatly combed, a two-dimensional Scott Tracy smiled up at the thick clouds as a snowflake covered his chin.

* * *

><p>Jeff coughed and heard a strange growling sound emerge from his throat at the same time. Forehead creased in a deep frown, he nearly crowed with delight when he realized he was reaching Waskatenau at last. According to the digitally updating welcome sign, the town had barely 500 folks living there, but Jeff didn't care if there was only one as long as that one had a vidphone, or even just an old-fashioned telephone.<p>

He stopped at the first electrical car charging station he came to and plugged his car into the meter before loping into the small store. The woman behind the counter took one look at him, screamed and ran out the side door.

"What in the-?" But even to Jeff his own voice sounded foreign. He saw the phone, and with single-mindedness he hadn't known in years, reached across the counter and grabbed it. It was pretty much antique, not being a vidphone and having push buttons, but it would work. He put the index finger of his right hand down to the keypad and recoiled at what he saw.

The phone clattered to the floor as another customer entered, took one look at him, screamed and ran off into the early morning shadows. Jeff stared down at his hands, turning them over and over in disbelief. His fingers had grown long and bony, and both the fronts and backs of them were covered in a sparse blanket of straight, black fur. His fingernails were no longer flat with white half-moons; instead, they were yellowish and longer, more claw-like.

"What is going on?" Jeff asked, then grabbed his own throat as the foreign sounding voice reached his ears. "What the _hell_?" Even to him, even without the man in red and black flannel coming in, yelling, "What the _fuck_?" and running back out, it was clear something was very, very wrong.

He shook his head, trying to remember, trying to figure out if he should know what was happening. Trying to recall how the hell it was he'd gotten into Alberta to begin with. Where the Beemer had come from. Why he was in Canada. He wracked his brain, but things seemed suddenly strange. He looked at the candy on the counter of station's store. It was pungent, assaulting his nose. He heard himself sniff and raised a hand to his face.

Why hadn't he seen himself in the car's rear-view mirror? Why hadn't he noticed this? Was he supposed to be this way? No, his family weren't animals. They were all perfect; handsome...at least, that's what came to mind. Lana sure thought Scott was, and she made no bones about it. Lana, Scott's girlfriend. Yes, that he remembered. Sonela, Virgil's woman. Yes, put them all straight. John was seeing Caroline Faulk. Gordon had hit it off with Wil Dandridge's girl, Maggie. Okay, put the thoughts in order.

Alan and Tin-Tin. Kyrano. He knew them. Family, loved ones. Important. Order them. Scott, Virgil. Order them. John, Gordon, Al. Yes. Sons. Lucille. Beloved of old, remember. Penelope. Penny. Wife. She was his wife. Yes. Penny. And Parker, always there, always the same old Parker. Order. He understood this. There was something else, though. Something else. Something big. He should be remembering it. He should be, _dammit_, there was something else. Big. Part of his life. Something he had created. Scott. Something he ran. Something he was going to take over. Business. Business? Companies? No. There was something else. Companies were John's. Yes, John's. What was the other thing?

What couldn't he remember? What was escaping him? Nothing escaped Jeff Tracy. Nothing was forgotten, he had a memory like a steel trap, this was _very_important, he _had_ to remember, there was something...something...big...helping...helping people? Helping. Jeff balled his fist and slammed it down on the counter in frustration as a semi came rolling into the parking lot. He felt a low growl forming in his belly as he watched the trucker open the cab door and step down. The growl seemed to turn to a rumble and Jeff realized he was hungry. In fact, he was ravenous.

Horrified by where his thoughts turned next as the trucker slammed his door shut, Jeff uttered what sounded like a yelp of pain and ran out to the BMW he'd arrived in. The trucker stopped and stared open-mouthed at him, but Jeff knew only that he needed to get away from there fast before he acted on the thoughts that were pounding into his brain like a thundering stampede. Just as he reached the door, a wave of nausea hit as visions of tearing the trucker's arm from its socket became overpowering.

Jeff sank to his knees and wretched the entire contents of his stomach onto the dirt and gravel driveway. He barely heard the "Holy shit!" from the trucker, who ran back to his cab and grabbed his CB radio. "There's somethin' out here!" he cried as Jeff fell to his side, still dry heaving. "I don't know what the fuck it is!"

* * *

><p>"Scott, I'm so sorry! Oh <em>God<em>, I'm _trying_ to find him!"

"I think you've done _quite_ enough."

Lana looked into the face, ever-ruggedly handsome but currently twisted by anger, that she loved so much. Love that was now gone, lost to her forever, and all because she'd been too blind to see what her research partner had been up to. Begging innocence or for mercy right now would fall on deaf ears, this she knew, as Scott Tracy sat in a cockpit she didn't recognize and read and her the riot act using nothing more than his eyes.

If there was one thing she'd learned about the Tracys, it was that they could speak tomes with a single look. And she was getting one helluva one right now. She hated herself. She hated what role she had played in talking so much about her lover and his family. She hated what Cho had been doing right under her nose, and she hated herself for being so stupidly naïve throughout it all. Lana was at fault. She knew it. And she knew she had to rectify it by finding Jeff Tracy before it was too late.

When Scott cut the call off, huge tears rolled down Lana's round cheeks. She vowed to Scott, his family and herself that she would find Jeff and somehow save him if it was the last thing she ever did.

* * *

><p>Cho watched in fascination as Jeff passed by the Beemer, which he'd outfitted with a long-range camera. Granted, he'd been out of its sight a few times, but so far the transformation seemed to be happening perfectly and according to the same schedule as his last experiment's had. He turned at the thought and looked at the cage door on the other side of the lab, wondering why the creature had been so quiet.<p>

Soon this lab and everything in it would be behind him. It didn't matter what Lana did or didn't do; she had simply been a valuable means to an end. Jeff was already too far gone to be salvaged, and nobody would ever believe her over the famous scientist helming the billion-dollar scientific arm of the new Tracy Space Station.

He had to remember to rename that damn thing once he took the project over. Tracy Corp be damned. It was _his_ technology being used and nobody owned that but him. Well, his _stolen_ technology, but that made it his by rights either way. The Tracy sons would have to bow down to his demands or they wouldn't get the thing built. It never occurred to Ken Cho that the boys might say "No, thank you," once they heard his demands. As far as he was concerned, they would rather do it his way and make him a rich man than scrap something that tens of millions of dollars had already been sunk into.

Of course, the fact that he wasn't really Ken Cho just made him chortle in self-satisfaction. It had been a good move on his part to kill the _real_ Cho over a year ago. He'd been masquerading as the famous scientist ever since.

And quite frankly, whether or not the Tracy sons agreed to kowtow to him didn't make a bit of difference, for he would at last have struck them a lethal blow. All that studying of Cho's work had paid off. Now it was only a matter of time. Eventually, he could take them _all_ out this way. Eventually.

Now, it was merely a moment to sit back and savor.

* * *

><p>"I don't fucking <em>know<em> where he is!" Scott's voice was almost inaudible as Virgil read between the lines. John was close behind and turned to look as Kyrano and Tin-Tin entered the room.

"Where's Grandma?"

"Mrs. Tracy is in the garden," Tin-Tin replied. "Father advised he would return and tell her of the emergency." She looked around the Lounge. "Where is Alan?"

"He went with Scott in One," Virgil replied.

"Here, Tin-Tin," Alan responded simultaneously from Scott's portrait feed.

"Virgil, fill them in. I'm going to drop Al off to pay a visit to Dr. Cho."

"F.A.B., Scott. Where will you be?"

"Combing the Canadian blizzard-side," Scott replied with no small amount of sarcasm.

Scott's live face winked out, leaving the remainder of the family standing silently staring at one another.

"Who's going to tell Grandma?" John asked. None of them wanted to.

"I shall, with your permission," Kyrano replied, nodding and backing out onto the balcony.

"God bless your dad," Virgil said, squeezing Tin-Tin's shoulder. "Now let's start doing some digging."

* * *

><p>It awoke to find its paws covered in a cool, sticky substance. It smelled to high heaven of metal and made the upper lip of its primary head drool. The second head couldn't move at all and wasn't very large. It merely blinked and watched, not having enough of a mind to really process anything it was seeing. It felt the hunger. It felt the revulsion. It felt the fear and panic. It watched as the body it was attached to rose to its legs and the other head threw itself back and howled into the night.<p>

The Second did notice that it had a longer snout whereas The First was flatter-faced in appearance. The Second did wonder about that, but the thought was fleeting, coming and going in an instant. Then it was just back to observing. It knew one thing The First didn't: its time would come.

Governed by instinct, madness or intelligence, or perhaps the melding of all three, the Monster ran. It ran from the electric car charging station. It ran through the near-whiteout conditions, having a sense of direction it gained from somewhere beyond itself...following instinct, need, drive and pure horror at what it had done. Details weren't necessary. The five bodies...or what remained of five bodies...had told it all it needed to know. It was no longer human.

The howl that was carried away by the strong wind sounded almost like a man's cry of anguish.

* * *

><p>"Dr. Cho?"<p>

"Yes. Alan Tracy, is it?"

"Yes, pleased to meet you, Doctor."

Dr. Cho reached out and shook the offered hand. "And you as well. To what do I owe the honor of a visit from one of Jefferson Tracy's sons?"

"Well, it's my dad, Dr. Cho. Did he make his appointment with you?"

"Why, no, he did not, Alan."

"What? He didn't?"

"I am afraid not. I myself did not realize the time until several hours after the appointment was scheduled." Cho gestured to a nearby table clearly containing some sort of chemical experiment. "You know how work is."

"Yes, we have a scientist friend who is exactly the same." Alan's smile did not reach his eyes. "Tell me, did he call you?"

"No. I have heard nothing from him or his secretary, I am afraid. Are you unable to locate him?"

"It's just that he hasn't checked in," Alan replied, his eyes roving around the room. Something caught his attention but he let his gaze pass right over it and this time tried harder to offer a genuine smile. "Dr. Cho, may I impose upon you?"

"For?"

"Something to drink. I have some medication I need to take."

"Why, certainly, I shall return in a moment." He nodded toward the sofa. "Please feel free to make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you," Alan nodded, heading for the couch.

As soon as Cho was out of sight, Alan _did_ reach the sofa but it wasn't to sit down. He knelt in front of it and reached out with his thumb and forefinger, plucking a hair from the arm of it. It was the salt and pepper colour of his father's. Cho's hair was jet black, and according to Lana, she was the only person whom Cho _ever_ let this far inside his lab. Her hair was jet black as well...and yet...Alan was in this far. He puzzled over that. Maybe just because he was a Tracy? Did that mean he could've let _another_ Tracy back here?

He rose to his full height and looked around. That's when he heard it. The all-too-familiar beep every member of International Rescue knew as well as his or her own name. Someone's wrist communicator was beeping and it wasn't Alan's. He quickly looked toward the door Cho had disappeared through, and then tried to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. A tall wooden cabinet in the corner seemed to be a likely spot. He crossed the room in two long strides and threw the cabinet door open.

The next thing he felt was a pinprick in the back of his neck. He swung around and felt his arm connect with something. There was a loud grunt before Alan knew only darkness.

* * *

><p>"Scott, I can't get Alan."<p>

"Communicator?"

"Been trying it for the past fifteen minutes."

"No luck on Dad's either."

"You left Al with Dr. Cho?"

"Yep," Scott replied, clearly maneuvering One's controls to make a wide turn. "That means whatever is going on begins and ends with Cho. What do you have on him?"

"Well, that was why I was trying to get Al. I don't like this, Scott, it stinks to high Heaven."

Scott looked into Virgil's eyes. "It isn't Cho."

"I'm that easy to read."

"Shit." Scott asked the next question even though he already knew the answer. "Who is it?" Off Virgil's confirming look he closed his eyes and squeezed One's levers until his knuckles hurt. "Fuck."

"Scott, you can't go there alone. Whatever he's up to, he's got both Dad _and_ Al now."

"Don't remind me that I left our baby brother with that madman," Scott seethed.

"That's not where I was going and you know it. I just don't want you to be next. We're about an hour out."

Scott gave him a look as he kicked his speed up a notch.

"I know I can't keep you from going in, but-"

"I know, Virg. I will."

Virgil nodded ever so slightly as the line was cut. He turned to look at John sitting just behind him and to his right. Brains was next to him, Gordon to Brains' left.

"Shit," Gordon whispered.

John and Brains exchanged a look before John's eyes fixed on an invisible point out the cockpit window. Brilliant minds churned, but without knowing what exactly was going on, and without being close enough to help Scott, none of them had a clue what the eldest son was walking into, or whether Jeff and Alan were even still alive.

Nobody wanted to think the worst. But they had nothing else to think.

* * *

><p>Al awoke to find himself tied rather unceremoniously and, once he tested the bonds, very tightly. He was face down on the very couch where he'd found the hair he'd assumed to have been his father's. There was complete silence and he could feel that his watch was still on his left wrist. If only he could reach it to send out the emergency signal.<p>

There! He'd done it! Alan breathed a sigh of relief. Scott would be here soon.

* * *

><p>It shivered in the frozen air. The corner of the barn in which it cowered sheltered it from the unforgiving winds but nothing could shield its partially furry, partially human skin from the negative forty degrees Celsius that permeated everything not artificially heated. It heard something approaching but it was too cold to care, too mortified by its own behavior to follow the instinct that tried to scream at it to run for its life.<p>

The First knew terrible pain as The Second protested where it was. The Second began to pull causing The First to howl. Both creatures cried out into the night as footsteps crunched nearer.

* * *

><p>"Okay, Scott, where are you?"<p>

"Got sidetracked by a wreck on the 881, Virg, I'm—hey, Alan's emergency signal!"

"Got it, too. Cho's lab, if I'm not mistaken."

"I'm landing there now. Join me."

"On our way."

Virgil tensed in anticipation. Whatever was going on, maybe this would be as easy now as walking in and finding both Alan and their father tied up somewhere they could easily get to and rescue them. Maybe both would be alive and well and scoffing at them for worrying as they always did. And he thought _Scott_ was bad. Turned out as he aged Virgil was becoming enough of a worrywart for both, he thought.

* * *

><p>The room was dark. He could hear the wind howling outside but then another whine overtook that and his heart skipped a beat as relief washed over him. It was Thunderbird One and...Thunderbird Two! He knew the whole damn family would be the complement and prepared himself to look annoyed rather than upset.<p>

Within minutes, Scott, Virgil, John and Gordon had burst in, untied his ropes and grilled him. Life Sign Indicators showed no one else on the premises. Virgil saw Scott glance around wondering where Lana was, but they didn't have time to stop and search right now. She wasn't here, and their father was still missing, with Al being able to offer them nothing to go on other than confirmation that Cho was behind everything.

"He isn't Ken Cho," Scott told his youngest brother as they climbed into the cockpit of One.

"Well then who is he?" Scott's silence as they strapped themselves in was Alan's answer. "Oh, fuck." He settled back in as Scott ignited One's engines. "Where's Penny?"

"We haven't told her."

"She's going to kill us for that."

"Not if we get Dad back and let _him_ tell her."

Alan snorted. "She's still going to kill us."

* * *

><p>It bolted from the corner as the barn door opened a fraction. The being looking through into the dark shadows surrounding the Monster was so bundled up it was indistinguishable as anything other than human. The First howled mournfully as The Second continued pulling mercilessly, as though wishing itself separate from that which had given it life. There was little thought and no man left in any of what the creature had become. Barely bipedal and hardly recognizable as a man, it fell forward onto its hideously gnarled hands and felt pain like it had never known.<p>

The being looking in upon it stole further into the barn and secured a vantage point from which to be able to observe, hopefully without being detected. Dark black eyes watched and appeared to be amused by the agony of the creature before it. Beneath the scarf wound around its face, it could almost be said that he or she was smiling.

* * *

><p>"All right, Virg, you take the second quadrant we outlined, I've got the first. We use LSI's to try and find him or Cho."<p>

Virgil's sigh could be well heard over the airwaves. "I can't believe nobody knows where he is."

"And I can't get hold of Lana, so she's a bust." Scott wanted to seethe but didn't allow himself the luxury as the LSI blinked to life. "Beginning Search Pattern Beta."

"F.A.B. Beginning Search Pattern Pi."

"F.A.B, Virgil."

They had to find Jeff. They just _had_ to. There _was_ no other option. Scott's jaw ground together tightly and would not be moved. _No_ other option. And Lana was going to pay, he vowed, one way or another.

He didn't know she already had...with her life.

* * *

><p>The Monster screamed, both heads crying out for help of some kind though even it didn't know what. Instinct told it to run, for it smelled the other creature; then somewhere inside it realized it wanted to bite and tear, not run. It struggled to its feet, and the watcher looked on in fascination, as it seemed the creature was fighting with itself, wanting desperately to break away. He hadn't seen this behavior in his previous subjects and almost wished he'd brought his recorder before catching himself and remembering he no longer had to act like Cho or work on Cho's research because if what he was seeing was any indication, Jeff Tracy would soon be dead.<p>

He didn't see it moving. He was so lost in his own thoughts of what was to come that he didn't see the fangs bared. He didn't see the arm sweep its 36-inch span outward from its body. When the claws connected with his head, it was mere nanoseconds of horror that he knew before darkness came...for good.

The creature tore at the flesh with its fangs and nails, both heads vying for the fresh meat that meant life and sustenance. As the right hand pulled food into The Second's mouth, the left hand ripped at it for The First's. Suddenly its stomach flipped. It sat back on its haunches and stared at what it had done. The Second yowled in protest, desperately wanting to feed. The First backed far enough away that neither hand could reach the mess it had made of the Cho impostor.

This was wrong. Something about it was wrong. The First didn't know what, it couldn't process well enough to understand the concept even, only that it _felt _wrong. That it had to stop. That it couldn't do this even if it meant its own death. A strange whine outside hurt its ears. It tried to cover them but only got one ear on each head covered as the whine became louder, drowning out the whistling wind.

It felt the chill. It knew somehow the end was near. It cried out and sank to its knees, revulsion at the drying, sticky blood all over its hands and fur and remnants of clothing making it heave yet again. Bloody parts of what had once been Belah Gaat came back up, spewing over the dirt beneath it. The wind whipped up and tore a wooden shingle from the top of the roof, hurling it several meters away. Snowflakes flew down into the barn madly as though ecstatic to have a new place to fall, a place they formerly couldn't get to. The creature knelt and clutched its stomach as the flakes settled on its fur, some melting and some hanging onto their perfect, beautiful form for dear life at the end of a length of black fur.

The dilapidated door was ripped from its hinges. The First tried to look toward the sound but felt itself heave again. The Second had had enough and fought even harder against its origin, pulling and pulling to the right. The Monster staggered to its feet, raised its arms to the heavens and let out a sound that could only have been described as a combination scream and heartbreaking howl.

It caused those entering to stop dead in their tracks.

* * *

><p>"That structure below appears to have two life signs, er, John."<p>

"Confirmed, Brains. Virg, it's the best shot we've had yet."

"Agreed. I'll land close as I can to the structure. Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One!"

"Go ahead!"

"We've got two life signs inside an old barn, Scott, we're landing to take a look."

"All right, let me know."

"Will do. Two out."

"This is the longest shot we've ever taken."

"Not really, John. I think the longest shot was us having the World Navy carry Thunderbird Four all the way to New York."

"You have a point," John replied.

On the surface, they were talking about that. Underneath, every one of them was praying for luck.

* * *

><p>"Scott, there's a couple of blips."<p>

"I see them, Al. Funny, also in an abandoned barn."

"Guess there's a lot of them around here. It's more barren than I thought anyplace still was in today's day and age."

"Welcome to Canada," Scott said without mirth. He quickly set One down and shut her engines off.

"Aren't we going to let Two know?"

"No reason to, they're busy on their end."

Alan frowned but pulled his parka, ski mask and gloves on as quickly as Scott. The two made their way out of One and into a blinding blizzard that hadn't seemed this bad from up in the air. Scott waved an arm with a pointed gloved finger out toward what appeared to be an old door in the side of the barn. Alan nodded and the two trudged through the already drifted snow, the crunching of their boots dying on the wind.

Scott tried pulling at the door but the snow had piled against it and it wouldn't budge. Al grabbed the top, Scott grabbed the middle and the two ripped it right off its hinges, throwing it to the side. They turned on their flashlights just as the most unearthly sound either had ever heard reached their ears. It made every hair on their bodies stand on end and their eyes, the only humanity either could see of each other, showed fear.

* * *

><p>"Scott, we've got a couple whose car broke down about a mile out. We're going to get them into Two and continue the search."<p>

John, Gordon and Virgil exchanged glances when they received no response. Brains was securing their passengers and the brothers had just settled back into the cockpit after removing their wet and snowy coats, toques and gloves.

"Scott?"

John frowned.

"Alan?"

"I don't like this, Virgil."

"Me either, Gordo. Get me One's location."

Thunderbird Two's engines fired up and Virgil lifted her seemingly effortlessly into the buffeting prairie winds. He looked at the radar Gordon brought up as John strapped in and without another word from anyone Two was on her way.

* * *

><p>"What in the-?"<p>

Alan and Scott could do nothing but stand and stare in disbelief at the sight before them. Not taking into consideration the blood and body parts strewn all over the dirt floor of the barn, it was the creature raised up on its hind legs that horrified them. Or, more precisely, what the creature _resembled_.

"No," Alan breathed. "It's not possible."

The Second growled nastily and tried pulling the creature's body toward the two intruders but The First held them back. Why, it did not know. The Second snarled and used the right arm to lash out at The First. Claw marks seeped blood from the cheek of The First as it howled in pain and struck back at its counterpart.

"We've got to stop it," Scott said matter-of-factly as he pulled one glove off with his teeth and spit it to the ground.

"You can't shoot it," Alan breathed, pulling his ski mask off.

"You want to become its next meal?"

"You want to kill our father?"

Scott's eyes widened as he started at Al for a few seconds, and then looked back at the Monster. "What?" he whispered. Then he _really_ looked just as The First turned its head toward him. "My _God_."

"What do we do?"

"_Father_?"

The First cried out, howling and screaming as The Second jerked its neck in the opposite direction of The First's head. The Second's nose and mouth had elongated further now into a complete snout and it used its extended chops to try and bite The First. It was all the more human half could do to keep away from the wolf-like teeth trying to rip it to shreds. It looked toward the two intruders, eyes that still looked very human indeed locking with Scott's.

"I _have_ to shoot it."

"No! Scott, you can't! That's our _father_!"

"He wants me to," Scott whispered.

Alan removed his hand from where he'd placed it on Scott's arm and looked back at the creature, which was now locked in a battle between its two heads. The snarling and gnashing of teeth Al could only liken to what he'd heard about the depths of Hell. He watched in train wreck-type enthrallment, as the battle unfolded before him, not even aware of what his oldest brother was doing. He simply could not believe that this thing was their father to the point where he didn't even hear Thunderbird Two land, nor did he notice the entrance of the rest of his brothers until Virgil touched him on the shoulder.

"What is that thing?" John asked.

A shot rang out. The mechanical pistol had fired. In the cold, as the wind whipped through, smoke left the barrel of the gun almost unnoticed as Scott lowered it and dropped it to the dirt.

The more human creature howled just as the more wolf-looking side screamed one last time and tore itself back from the other. The boys stood rooted to their places as Brains scooted inside and froze in his tracks. As though in slow motion, they watched as blood sprayed outward, the creature spinning once before The Second ripped free and fell to all fours, completely and totally a black wolf. The other half groaned and rolled to his side, then pushed himself up onto hands and knees. He wobbled and looked up in confusion toward the group of young men near the entrance.

They gasped as one. "Father!"

The wolf growled and leapt right at Gordon and Alan. Before anyone knew what was happening, two shots rang out. The beast thumped to the hard dirt floor, its fur covered by the snow that continued to pour in through the roof. Soaking wet, covered with blood and shivering from the cold, Jeff Tracy reached a hand out toward his boys before collapsing into the dirt.

They looked at one another, silently moved to cover their father with their own coats and pants, and carried him out to Thunderbird Two, keeping him sequestered from the rescued couple they still had on board.

No words were spoken on the ride home. Whatever it had been, it was over. The First...Jeff Tracy...was alive.

And Belah Gaat was dead.

* * *

><p>As the snow subsided, thick white clouds parted to show a night full of stars. The closest section of the Milky Way was clearly visible and within minutes the Northern Lights appeared as a light green ribbon across the sky. Slowly it began to move, to undulate innocently as the hunter emerged from the forest. He'd hit an elk and was trying to drag it back to his truck now that the blizzard was over. Having been holed up in a makeshift tent in the woods, he was definitely cold, but none the worse for wear thanks to his emergency blanket.<p>

The moon's brightness finally lit his way so he could get his bearings. He grabbed the elk's antlers and headed for the road that had yet to be ploughed. Then something caught his eye...red on the pure white snow. He dropped the elk and looked closer. It was definitely drops of blood, and scattered amongst them were deep prints. In the distance he heard a howl that made his hair stand on end.

Then against the backdrop of a snow-covered hill, he saw a giant black wolf. It was the last thing he would ever see.

The Second would live on.


End file.
